Ministers' council approves a set of texts
Morocco, Politics, 9/7/2001

A ministers' council, held in Tetouan Thursday under the chairmanship of Morocco's King Mohammed VI, approved a set of texts.

King Mohammed VI agreed to a series of draft laws meant to reform vital sectors to guarantee and protect freedoms and enlarge their scope and to ensure the rights of citizens and of collectivities and accompany the march ushered in by King Mohammed VI since his accession to the Throne by consecrating democracy and individual and collective freedoms and guaranteeing rights, the official spokesman of the Royal Palace said in a statement at the end of the council.

In this connection, King Mohammed VI agreed to a draft law related to the reform of the penal procedure, seeking to reform and simplify justice, the spokesman said.

The law is aimed at accompanying the evolution Morocco witnessed in the field of human rights and ensure its harmony with the international accords ratified by the Kingdom.

The law also seeks to secure conditions of fair trials through drawing inspiration from successful human experiences with the creation of a juridical apparatus for minors.

The draft law related to the penal procedure is part of a global reform of the judiciary system, the spokesman said.

In order to create conditions favorable to the unfolding of trials, King Mohammed VI gave instructions to put interpreters at the disposal of sued people who do not speak Arabic among the citizens speaking Amazigh or among the people belonging to the second and third generations of Moroccan expatriates.

The king insisted on the need to earmark funds necessary for the implementation of the reform of justice.

King Mohammed VI also agreed to a draft law on the communal charter, modifying the 1976 Dahir on local councils through the introduction of profound amendments that take into account the experiences gained on the field and the recommendations of colloquies and that draw their philosophy from the new concept of authority, called for by the king.

The draft charter seeks to rationalize communal action, consolidate the prerogatives of elected representatives, set up a status for the elected representatives, enlarging their prerogatives and defining their rights and responsibilities in a framework of efficiency, responsibility and transparency.

The draft also seeks to consolidate coordination between the elected representatives and the central administration to avoid dual function.

The draft communal charter offers a unified status to the municipal councils with a particular status for urban communes with more than 50,000 inhabitants.

The text seeks to reorganize provincial assemblies, their rationalization and the enlarging of their prerogatives.

The king also agreed to new draft laws governing public freedoms and aimed at enlarging them and guaranteeing their exercise.

The Ministers' Council approved a new press code that takes into account the evolution Morocco witnessed in matters of democracy and human rights, starting from the right to information, while insisting on the need to abide by the constitution, the law and ethics.

Another new draft law on associations seeks to enlarge freedoms, preserve associations' independence and ensure the transparency of their sources of financing and transfer their control to the judicial authority.

The council also approved a draft law related to abandoned children to ensure their rights.

The Council meeting was attended by the king's advisors, head of the Royal office, Mohamed Rochdi Chraibi, the official spokesman of the Royal Palace, Hassan Aourid, and Fadel Benaich, charge de mission at the Royal Office.

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